Which ham radio to buy? Watch this before you buy your first radio.
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- Опубликовано: 17 июл 2024
- Which ham radio to buy? Watch this before you buy your first radio. #hamradio
Today Ria explains the mistakes a lot of new hams make when selecting their first radio. Also, she gives some history of her first radio experiences in Trinidad and Tobago.
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0:00 Intro
0:49 Channel news
1:06 My first radios
5:30 The kit CW radio
7:18 The QRP radio
9:03 The expensive radio
10:39 Amplifiers
12:15 Tube type radios
13:30 10 (and 12) meter radios
15:05 Expensive VHF/UHF radios
16:17 Digital radios
17:13 Baofeng
18:29 What do I buy?
20:15 Outro 
Наука
Ria, this is the most informative, for the new ham, I've ever seen on RUclips. Well done. Barry, KU3X/QRP
You are the only person I found that provided complete synopsis and tips that are easily understandable. Thank you!
Thank you Ria for sharing your knowledge on this topic. This is the first video of yours I watched and look forward to learning from the rest. Keep up the good work.
This is fabulous data!! You find me exactly where I am, with those antenna suggestions :) I definitely benefit from your sharing this with us♡♡♡ you Rock Ria!
🤜🏻👍🤛🏻
Wow this video is awesome! I'm new into the hobby and this video gave loads of advice. Thank you Ria. You have a new subscriber!
Famalay 🇹🇹 Just found your channel and knew I heard the accent! I'm new to everything so I will be bingeing your content.
Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge. Very Useful for me.
Great tips! Definitely got pulled into "acquisition syndrome"! investing in antennas like you suggested and I'm much more encouraged now.Thank you!
Excellent and informative video. I especially enjoyed the "Antenna First" concept. As a new Ham, that idea would never have been at the top of my list. Thank you for posting the video.
Thank you so much for this. I'm learning and you spell it out nicely.
Excellent presentation very through. And for me who made every mistake you mentioned thanks from all of us who did not make it for all the reasons you stated. After years of radio silence I am about to buy a 2 meter 50w transceiver with a good mobile antenna. Thanks for this so much.
Fantastic information for the new ham!
That was a great video and gave me a lot of useful information. Thanks.
Thank you so much. I learned a lot.
Wow. most helpful video i have watched. Unfourtantly i have bought a radio, and a tuner. Also i have bought a power supply 6 years ago for emergencies. (power outage) 12 volt and it was made for Ham. I new to Ham. I have uhf/vhf Motorola CDM 1250. i have no antenna yet and really didnt know what to get or make. Now i know thanks to you. 2m 70m antenna. Thanks a bunch, God Bless. I go for my license 2 moths. wish me luck. Yes ,I am studying😉
Very good info Ria thank you
Nice video Ria. Yes, antennas first! And I would add go resonant whenever possible. Watch out for rig GAS, especially w/ HTs. Pick equipment based on your strongest radio interest/ what you think you will have the most fun with. 73 -
Hi, Ria. Even though I have been licensed for over 40 years this was a great review for me. I am a member of the Nevada County Amateur Radio Club and Nevada County ARES out here in the foothills of northern CA so I plan on seeing and listening to your presentation this coming Monday June 14the out here. 73 Alan KZ6B
KE8MMY - WOW! I wish this was the first video I watched when I got involved with Ham Radio (longtime electronics tech, got serious about Ham when a non-technical buddy wanted to get into Ham - wish he had seen it first also!). Great Job, this will get shared! Thank You! 73
Thank you for your informative video. 😊
Good advice. I let all my gear go many years ago when my license expired and I didn't renew. I'm getting back into ham radio now.
Alot of great knowledge thank you! 73
good advice all through. big help as I go for the general test next month. ty
Good luck on your General!
I am in an apartment, but I have a large 3rd
floor balcony facing the woods 🪵 and have
good height. I have a Super antenna vertical
MPC-1, and a Windcamp WA4, OCF dipole, and a Comet GP-1 for VHF-UHF. I have a
number of the HF rigs you mentioned, and
stayed with 100 watts and under for some QRP too. Thanks for the newcomers advice.
Ray W2CH, WPE2FXT, and KBG7077.
Thank you lots of great info
Thanks for the helpful video!!
My first ham radio when I got license was a Radio Shack HTX 252
Probably the most useful video I’ve watched yet as a newbie. Thank you so much for the time and effort.
Thanks for watching!
@@n2rj Hello. Could you help a noob with a problem.. I bought a µBITX v6 but I must set the antenna up in my room. I live in a one room apartment and can’t put anything in the loft or outside. Could you recommend something sub £100?? Thank you in advance for your consideration
Hello Ria I purchased your book and looking forward getting my technician license, thanks for this video.
I agree, start with a set that will allow you to hear and be heard, it doesn’t matter what band, as long as it is within your license privileges. This means antenna, radio (usually mic and speaker are included with the radio). If you have at least 20 min commute and repeaters in the area, get a dual band mobile with a dual band magnet mount antenna. Installing the radio in the car will make a nice project you can learn a lot from. Every work day you will get at least 40 min of listen and talk opportunity. Get a reliable multimeter as well.
Good stuff. I always say set your budget first then go after the buys. Don't go crazy until you know you will stay in the hobby. I have been a ham for 45 years so I figure it's safe for me to spend a few bucks :) have fun folks
So glad to see more women involved in ham radio. I think we have two in my area (that I've spoken with anyway). Still new to ham myself. Just got my Technician and General tickets last month. Already picked up my first UHF/VHF radio (Baofeng HT, and Anytone AT-D578UVIII-Plus tri-band, pretty happy with it so far) but starting to look at HF rigs. Thanks for the video! 73! - KQ4GAG
Just checked out your QRZ page... impressive!!! 🙂
Hai Ria, very nice. Good class. Really very interesting speach.
Sage advice all around. Well said.
Great points Ria.
Hi Ria, your presentation was indeed straight forward and to the point which I was seeking. Absolutely agree that good antennas should be the priority as it can turn even a low power rig to perform extremely well. Subbed your channel and hope to see more such worthwhile videos in the days ahead.
73
New Delhi
Thank you!
My first 10 meter radio was a converted CB (Cobra 148 GTL) then I got the Uniden HR-2510 known is the President Lincoln outside the US. My first HF rig was Yaesu FT-757 & was a great radio My first 2 Meter radio was the Realistic HTX-202 & was decent but could not be modified to use on marine bands as I had a boat also..
Yes some day going to check it out
I absolutely agree with everything you said. A decent HF (modern) radio with good coax and a good antenna will give you a lot of enjoyment and teach you how to use the bands and non-fancy equipment. It will make you appreciate that new SDR when you finally decide to upgrade. I've had good luck with Baofeng HT's and QYT mobiles but I know that is the exception. As soon as the GT-5R's came out I bought a couple to more or less replace the UV-5R's. I have an ICOM 2730a as a base VHF/UHF. I build all my own antennas (although I have some bought hamsticks) and I encourage new hams to try to build their own as well. It's really not as hard as you think it might be and I've had results as good as any bought antennas, both HF and VHF/UHF. Thanks for the great video! Jack K5FIT 73
Iam studying for the tech ham.... and i already have a radio picked out :D the Yaesu FT-710 :)
Thx RIA, I needed to hear that
Good one, Ria, thanks for this. Concur 100%. Baofeng UV5Rs can be lived with comfortably of you have a programming cable ($3-4 on eBay) and a copy of CHIRP or the Baofeng programming app. I don't like the squelch adjustment via menus. I also have a Yaesu FT1D which commits the menu access sin to a far greater degree. It takes 2 hands to adjust the volume on this HT! I only have the FT1D because I am my club's Repeater Manager and I needed a way to test our Yaesu DR-1x repeater's C4FM mode, so the FT1D is a club asset.
All the advice you give is very sound, thanks for making this one!
Hello! The baofeng programming with the cable certainly is easier. One of the things ham radio emergency groups require is that you know how to program your radio in the field without a computer. So a programming cable is a good solution but you really do need to know how to do keypad programming. Also be careful which one you buy as many of the programming cables have terrible chipsets which cause your computer to crash or are unreliable. 73 and thanks for watching!
Great tips, Ria. I have a deep fascination for electronics and radios in general. I'm hoping to get into the hobby soon. Would like to see a presentation on antennas for would-be beginners. Thanks!
Get a copy of the ARRL antenna book.
Sensible and balanced advice, though a "decent" antenna need not be expensive. (a lot of people assume it will be)
Thanks, good advice!
I have a Xeigu G90 and worked all the globe in cw and ssb. Prefers this little radio to my Kenwood ts590sg. Antenna is a EFHW4010 at 60 feet height. 73🎉
Well done, Ria!
awesome!! really good
Good advice, Ria!
Good Job Rita. More smile to voice.
Yes I learned a lot.
Excellent
Good info Ria, new ham myself KI5TKD
thank you
Great video, and good information. I actually started with a kenwood ts-820s and loved it once I figured it out, though I did enjoy figuring it out as well. As much as I loved that radio it certainly wasn't a highly portable radio, which is what I enjoy doing now, so I traded it off for lighter gear. I do miss it though. Keep up the informative videos. Cheers!
I had the 830. Now I have a TS520. The 830 is in Trinidad. Hopefully I can retrieve it someday.
@@n2rj Great radios imo, I like the hybrids and will have another when I have more room, lol. I hope you can get your 830 back too. Cheers, looking forward to your next cast.
Best advice yet. Who knows, I may see you in port on my next cruise?
Good advice
I definitely agree with a "big" antenna instead of a "big" radio. A Bfang on a dipole makes great rig.
Baofeng radios make more people in to this hobby than any other radio out there and they have good radios . i will always love my Baofeng .
Thank you Ria. You give us newbies a lot of bang for the buck in reference to sharing of your hard-earned pearls of wisdom.
A new person like me, just can’t buy that kind of real-world experience. So, THANK YOU!
I’m starting out with the requisite UV5R offshoots. I have two of them that are tri-band radios. Having started on tri-band, I am not looking at less than that. Perhaps even a quadband radio. At $299 @ Amazon, one that looks attractive is the President LincolnPlus Two model base-mobile. Warned as being possibly too feature-rich for newbies. Although one that will allow a newbie a lot of time to grow into it prior to growing out of it.
A big concern I have is that the very unstable world condition, and extremely high likelihood of America at war with China very soon- will cause a complete shutdown of the chip mfg for Americacfrom China.
If Taiwan goes down, same scenario.
This resulting in all amateur radios stopping production.
Prices will immediately soar astronomically.
So, I am looking into purchasing a “real”
transciever and antenna setup soon.
Kind of late to the party but this is an excellent video and I will send new hams here. I have a beef with American Hams and their love of amps - they forget the adage - Only use as much power as you need for the contact. Again Thanks, I love the clear concise way you explain things 73 VA3XAP
Thank you and hope you enjoy more videos!
HTs are good if you're in an appartment or condo without a means of getting a good antenna inplace so long as you have good repeater coverage. -KM7RDS
I ram a General KM4NHN, One mistake I made was buying a handheld as my first radio. Come to find out I couldn't get into hardly any repeaters in the area. I had to switch to a mobile as my base radio.
Well done. Lots of good info, especially for a new ham or someone getting back in the hobby. 73 de KQ1K
Hi Ria, Thanks for the video it was very informative. Am one of those people this video was ment for. I have my tech license for a while but never get into the hobby. Am in the process of getting my General license. I just bought an ICOM 7300. I live in florida in a HOA What would you recommend for antenna. Thanks KB1ERW
Ria, I know that ham radio club in Trinidad because I use to send radios and equipment from Hawaii to Miami (3rd party shipper) to my best buds Dexter 9Y4C when he was still going to college there. One day, I will sail there in my boat and listen to Eddie Money’s song Trinidad, one of my favs. 73’
Yes, Dexter used to be 9Z4AC and recently upgraded I think. I am going to reinstate my license. I am a former regional rep of TTARS.
@@n2rj
If you see or hear Dexter, tell him everything is still the same and to give me a holler. I still plan to sail my 46 foot yacht over there after my kids go to college, which two of three are now going , one more left in two years and we’ll be home free.
I started on baofengs and have several (among other things I was trying out) - If I had all the money I've spent on radio gear back, and no radio gear at all - I'd buy an Icom IC-7300 for the shack, the Yaesu VX-6 that I have, and something like the Icom 2730A for mobile - or MAYBE the Anytone 578 if I just HAD to have DMR in the truck. I currently have one of the 878's basically an HT version of it - the color screens suck in bright sunlight. Honestly though, antennas are where it's at, and analog is great unless you're in a super congested area like NYC or LA.
If I did that (get money back, buy what I now know is "the right stuff") I'd have a WHOLE lot better gear than I currently have, and I'd have spent probably less, but definitely not more.
This video should be mandatory for all new Ham's. I just passed Tech & General and have already have contracted "GAS", doing a lot of online "window shopping" while waiting for the FCC email.
Thanks for reigning me in.... antenna first, that make so much sense. I've heard common tales of new Ham's buying expensive DX'ing rigs only to find out that they can't erect an outside antenna due to the restrictions of the Home Owners Association where they live, and they have no attic space to hide one. So antenna setup should be a priority, and then buy the shack gear.
Thanks 8P5DX
Great info. Any portable uhf/vhf that are fully programmable from the keypad? Only stuff I'm seeing so far (casually looking only a week) needs software to program everything. Thanks!
Most of the big four (Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, Alinco) are since they are designed as amateur radios first.
I second all the other sage, experienced hams who nod in agreement. It would be nice if you could follow up on how to build a good antenna and what sorts of things to look for. That could be a multi-part series.
I have a sponsored antenna build video coming up. Also I do have a few antenna build videos coming up. Thanks for the suggestion
@@n2rj That would be great,Ria. Thanks.
hi which 2M receiver you can recommend
Which amplifier would you pair with your IC705 that is portable and accessible.
XPA125B by xiegu
How about this brick IC-02AT
Can't charge it and didn't light up. It sits on the remember the good times
I am no ham..yet ..But i am Licensed for GMRS & I have ben into 11 meter for 35+ years and i also ran a repair shop for ever & My Point Is I Agree with you & IMHO Any good station Must Start with a Good Antenna & Coax I saw a video on here the other day that 2 guys had a pair of ht's & a repeater and was talking about 3 miles and they was happy as a pig in Slopthey just didnt know any better i have a HT as well as a family member also has one and we can talk perfectly any day of the week at 6 miles in the hills & Holers and Mountians of where we are at and even further on a good day just a HT to HT ! so many pepole is buying JUNK Coax not knowing any better and thinking its good.. 95% or more of coax sold online is Fake now days coax should never be steal or even CCA Always always Copper !
Hay Ria I got a question for you by the way I'm Steven but anyway I bought a President Lincolne +2 radio and bought a antenna tuner in which I am running a 102 inch whip my SWR is great and I'm running 30 watts RF out put is that good or bad on AM band
What band? If you’re getting out, you’re getting out.
Baofeng UV5r was my first radio
They’re not bad for the price and the new ones solve the spurious emissions issue. I find them user unfriendly for keypad programming and they really need you to be near a repeater to use. But they’re a good intro to ham radio.
@@n2rj yeah the menu is kinda hard to deal with. I originally got it to use on frs band for volunteer work. Now I've started using it for ham stuff because I got my license now.
I bought a TYT TH-9800 Plus for my first HAM radio before finding this video. I'm not sure what I should use as an antenna though.
Yes, very, very few antennas work in 4 bands (HH-9000 Harvest), better in 2m/70cm will be very strong compromise-antenna in 10m. In Poland we have prohibited FM in 6m, there are very rare TH-9800 version 10/4/2/70 - no antennas at all
most of my radios are bought used. I have so far only bought two new radios, both 2m/70cm. My first radio, was borrowed, until I won a 2m radio. I bought a used ic718 used it and then later bought a used amp
Used is good if you can get someone to look at the radio to make sure you’re not buying someone else’s problem or you can get a guarantee. I know of at least one ham store that offers that.
@@n2rj plus in my case I new the people they were purchased from or I was told the person that had the radio did not mistreated it. (ie the 891 I got)
Are ICOM the best or Kenwood
Much better than Baofeng, still economic 2/70 radios are made by TYT (i have TH-UV98). Usually have input circuits, not only digital chips. Much better immunity to city noise
Would you still recommend this to a Caribbean ham? 1000USD is a lot for a new ham in St. Lucia
When I lived in Trinidad, most of what we had were used radios. Cheap new radios would be like the IC718 which is a lot less than $1000. Even the IC7100 is less than $1k.
You might check out the BITX HF transceivers available almost fully assembled from HF Signals in India. They cover all HF SSB bands and cost $150. It's only about 10 watts, but as RIA notes, one you've absorbed that cost you can pick up an inexpensive 100-watt amplifier. Here is the link: www.hfsignals.com
@@Inkling777 yes Ashhar is a friend and he makes a good piece of kit. He told me he is working on something bigger as well.
I just discovered your channel and I'm enjoying the sheer good sense of your suggestions. You might want to do a review of the many kits and assembled versions of the N7DDC antenna tuner that are on ebay. I just picked up one for $70 and find it quite impressive. One reason I got it was that I thought, "Heck, I'd pay almost that much for a SWR and power meter and this is a tuner that comes with that." I'd be particularly interested in how baluns might extent its match range.
Good suggestion!
I got my technician ticket the same week that you put this video out, and I'm just seeing it now. #neverlucky
Since then, I bought 2 Baofengs (still haven't TX'ed with them yet, but they're ok for listening while sitting outside on the deck. It took me about a week of playing around to get them programmed,) and a President Lincoln 2+ (it's not horrible, but it will probably end up in a vehicle eventually). However, I did make a base station out of a vhf/uhf mobile hooked up to an old power supply out of a computer (12 volts is 12 volts, right? I'll buy a 13.7V supply down the road), and the results have been amazing - I'm RX-ing repeaters 100-200 miles away on a discone with a topper beam 30 feet high. The discone has "Big Ears," but it isn't that great for TX outside of local. I picked up a G5RV at a hamfest last weekend but still haven't strung it up, hoping for better 10M luck with that.
The biggest problem is that the technician license is limited to only a small part of 10 meters, 200 watts max - so why buy an expensive or powerful radio or an amplifier if you can't use it? All that does is make me want to study harder for my general and move on.... THEN, build out my shack.
I've been looking into DMR lately, but the jury is still out if I want to jump onto that train - analog seems more interesting to me. I thought you needed a license to get a DMR ID? Or can you listen without an ID?
The tech has privileges on CW on 40,80,15 meters. The FCC has been petitioned to expand and add some phone and digital but they haven’t moved on anything amateur in a long time. You can learn Morse or you can upgrade. To work DX you should learn Morse anyway as most DX uses the mode.
@@n2rj I do cheat with a Morse reader app, but to my ear, it's just noise right now. Maybe I should learn it.
Thanks for the great video and advice. You rock.
@@DellFargus that works too! I didn’t realize how much DX I was missing out on until I put down the mic. Plenty willing to teach you. www.Longislandcwclub.org
Some of the best bang for the buck is the Icom 7100.
I don’t recommend specific brands of radios. However the icom mobile HF radios have served me well over the years.
I was listening to a rag chew on 80 meters and heard a rumor that Kenwood was getting out of the ham radio business. Is this true? For the most bang for the buck, I recommend the IC-7300, a Japanese SDR 100w HF radio for ~$1000.
Nobody really knows. They certainly haven't been introducing as many new radio models as the others and have discontinued some radios. But as far as getting out of the business? It's all just speculation at this point. I do know the AKM factory fire hit them hard.
Kenwood and Motorola have DoD contracts with multiple countries.
I do not foresee any longevity on the amateur radio end of their business model. Those contracts are far too lucrative to pass up and as is the case with all dirty money - it is too plentiful to deny.
_"They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house. I'm not made of stone!"_ *_~Sir Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (aka Krusty the Clown)_*
Stay classy my friends.
what do you think about the Alinco DR-MD520T
I don’t have an opinion because I never had one. Alinco does make good low cost radios however.
Very interesting,well done! 9y4pu
Some people's idea is that there is no point in wasting your money on cheap products, when you know there restrictions and/or performance are not going to cut the mustard further down the line. ***(if you don't know how they are going to restrict you in the future, then clearly you havnt done your research properly) ***instead, save that money towards buying decent equipment in the first place! which will save you money in the long run! and you have to admit there is certainly some logic to that approach. it's even worse if you have bought the budget equipment new, because your then going to loose even more money trying to sell it on as used.
Super great advice!
73 de N2NLQ
but problem is, when 1 person goes more powerful, everyone else has to do the same in order to not be over talked. i had to get a more powerful radio because everyone around me has and i was being stepped all over and some times not heard at all.
Ria, what do You think, first 2/70 or HF ?
It’s entirely a local thing. If you have vibrant local repeaters, you can get your feet wet with 2m/70cm. If you’re out in the sticks, try HF.
The radio i miss the most are the Kenwood TS 440 SAT and the 857AD, oh well, shit happens...
Let's say I just wanna introduce my dad to HAM and communicate over a 850 mile distance... What exactly would I need and how would would I be able to construct such a device through regulations? P.S. I would help him have the same system.
He would need ideally a license that could communicate over HF, which in the US is ideally the general class license. Then he would need an HF radio like the icom 7300 and an antenna, maybe a dipole or end fed.
My first mistake was not knowing what I wanted. Second was listening to someone that just wanted me to buy "big boy" used gear from his buddies. Third mistake was taking all the Homeland Security classes and learning more than the Elmer, who got mad when I explained that he was wrong.
Nice to see women in ham 👌🏻👌🏻
Very nice presentation. Hi 👍😂VU2LBM
Hi chetta!
@@wokzip 👍🙏
Tl;dr get a uv5r
Yep if you care nothing about anything except the price, get a UV5R.
Start out with lots of power. 😆 I suggest a 10 meter on cb band with 1600 watts. Just kidding
73 ki6dzi